Wednesday, September 17, 2008

I am taking this opportunity to write about how I feel about the officiating these days in both college football and the NFL. Over the last 2 weeks I have seen some of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen on the gridiron. It started with the BYU-UW game where Jake Locker was flagged for throwing the ball some 10 feet over his head after scoring what was thought to be the game tying touchdown. This kid carried his team on his back the whole game and on the last drive converted every time and finally scored with seconds left on the clock. He throws the ball up in celebration and hugs his teammates only to see a flag come out from a retarded official for "unsportsmanlike conduct". As a result, UW has a 35 yd extra point that is blocked and they lose the game. Absolutly Terrible!

Next, I see crew after crew in the NFL throwing unneccesary flags and even one crew set a record for most penalties in a game. In football you can just about throw a flag on every play. There is a high chance that an offensive lineman is holding or an illegal hands to the face or a DB that illegally touches a WR past 5 yards. But that doesn't mean you have to be that nerdy ref that says "A rule is a rule and Im going to abide by it"! Use common sense. If it is a ticky tack foul then don't throw it. Now if it is a blatant play and affects the outcome of the play then throw it. I will call it the "common sense rule"! Have common sense!

Then on Sunday I am watching the SD-Denver game with Dustin. It was one heck of a game between 2 great offenses and Dustin even said it will come down to the end and who has the ball last. Jay Cutler rolls out and winds up to throw the ball and it very clearly slips out while his arm is moving backwards. It is an obvious fumble but Ed Hochuli, a veteran and well liked ref, blows the whistle and rules it an incomplete pass. Replay confirms it was a fumble but because of some dumb rule it cannot be overturned and the ball given to the Chargers like it should be. It would be game over and Chargers get a huge come from behind road win. So my question is why is the hell do we have replay if we still cannot get the call right. I say institute a "common sense" rule. If every fan, player and analyst can agree it is a fumble and should be Chargers ball then use common sense and give it to them.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

As I sit here right now I have a trash can next to me in case I vomit again! While I sleep tonight, I will wake up with nightmares of Wesley Carroll overthrowing balls and Woody McCorvey calling HB dive. Also I will be awoken of nightmares of Michigan fumbling yet again vs. Notre Dame. I have endured alot of bad days as a MSU fan and a Michigan fan. Any of you that know me should know that I am a diehard fan who lives thru his teams. This day will go down as one of the worst days for me as a fan in quite a long time.

Let me start first with the MSU game. I want to stand up and YELL "AWESOME JOB DEFENSE!" The best defensive game I have ever witnessed for MSU! Great job by every single defensive player on that field and a big pat on the back to Coach Harbison! At least we have one coach who is smart and understands the game well enough to call a good game. Again I could not be prouder of a group of guys as I am Derek Pegues, Jessie Bowman, Tim Bailey, Dominic Douglas, Keith Fitzhugh and company.... Keep up the great work guys because you are ALL WE HAVE!

Now on to the (pauses and pukes in the trash can) offense. I took the pleasure of going to dictionary.com and looking up the definition of offense. It is as follows:

*the act of attacking; attack or assault: weapons of offense.

*a person, army, etc., that is attacking.

*Sports.

a. the players or team unit responsible for attacking or scoring in a game.b. the players possessing or controlling the ball, puck, etc., or the aspects or period of a game when this obtains.c. a pattern or style of scoring attackd. offensive effectiveness; ability to score

Does any of this remotely describe the MSU offense? I say in a loud resounding voice NO!

Woody McCorvey continues to show an inept ability to be a retarded OC. His calls are predictable, terrible and resemble the same offense at times that State ran in 1970. Wake up Woody and show a little life and try some new things other than the 5 plays you can recall off of NCAA football on Playstation.

Wesley Carroll continues his roller coaster of a season and has another bad game. Against La Tech he looked horrible and last week he looked good even though we were playing a scrub team. Tonight? He looked like a 7th grade school girl with no clue. I honestly believe we would be better off running the "Wild Dog" formation with Dixon and Ducre'. And why would we not give Tyson Lee a chance to show us something. He pushed Carroll to the limits this summer and according to many people, including Dustin, Lee looked better in the scrimmiges. With the way Carroll looked tonight then I see no reason NOT to give Lee a chance to do something. I mean could it have gotten worse? Lee can throw it over recievers heads as much as Carroll. Anyways....I'm disgusted.

Now to Michigan. Just absolutly embarrassed and disgusted at the way we gave ND the game. 8 or 9 turnovers including 7 fumbles. We fumbled the ball away 2 times inside our 20 to set up 2 ND TD's and then fumbled away a TD on the 3 yd line to pull within 4 midways through the 3rd quarter. Not to mentioned the fumble that lead to ND final score. That is 28 points right there. Michigan outplayed ND by far in every aspect on both sides of the ball and lose because they cannot cover up the football. And I don't wanna hear any excuses about the weather because ND didn't fumble the ball and they actually picked up a fumble that was bouncing on the ground and never broke stride for a TD. I expected some lumps this year but I would rather choke on my own vomit then to watch us give away football games every week. So far that is 2 games given away for Michigan and 2 for State. Both of these teams should be 2-1 or 3-0 instead of 1-2. Is there any chance I will ever be able to enjoy a college football season? Probably not the way things look now.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Monday, September 8, 2008

There are two Monday Night Football games this week. The first game of the night is a good one. It is the Minnesota Vikings vs the Green Bay Packers. Both of these teams have good defenses and young QBs. I look for this to be a close and low scoring game. Minnesota will try to establish the run while the Pack will try a mixture of both run and pass. If Green Bay can contain Adrian Peterson (easier said than done) I like the Pack to win a close one at home.

Green Bay- 20Minnesota- 17The late game tonight is the Denver Broncos vs the Oakland Raiders. Both of these teams are trying to get back to their winning ways of the past. The Raiders have some very young and talented players looking to lead them back to the playoffs. Though they are a few years away from playoffs, they will be better. Denver comes in sporting a more experienced team led by QB Jay Cutler. This should be a very competitive game. I'm calling for the upset here I like Oakland to win the game outright.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

This week is an interesting week. There aren't any big time games between ranked teams but there are several interesting match ups. If any of you are old enough to remember the radio show that came on weekly during the fall called Leonard's Losers, then I am gonna take a page out of his book and do my own special version.

Miami vs. Florida - Well this isn't the same match up we have been used to in recent years. Miami has slipped to a sub par program and they are guided by second year coach Randy Shannon. I don't see Miami standing a chance in this game vs. Tim Tebow and his boys. Florida is still without Harvin but it won't matter. Haines' Winners - Florida by 3+ touchdowns. 38-13

Cincinnati vs. Oklahoma - A tough Bearcat team will travel to Norman to take on the #4 Sooners and will be looking to pull the upset. Oklahoma is running a new no-huddle "fast break" offense and it looked good last week against a cupcake. I see the Bearcats hanging close with Oklahoma pulling away in the 2nd half. Haines' Winners - Oklahoma 37-17

Southern Miss vs. Auburn - Larry Fedora and his new USM wide open style team will be a thorn in the side of many teams this year. Auburn has a new spread no huddle offense as well but have issues at QB. I look for USM to play the Tigers tough but the riverboat gambler and his boys will come out on top. Haines' Winners - Closer than the experts think.... Auburn 27 -20

Ole Miss vs. Wake Forest - Houston Nutt has given the Rebel faithful a glimmer of hope and I can already hear the "Atlanta" talk from them. Wake Forest is an underrated team and so is Riley Skinner. Ole Miss' defense will not stop the Demon Deacons but the Rebels will put up some points as well. Haines' Winner - Wake Forest 41-34

West Virginia vs. East Carolina - Skip Holtz has put together a good team at ECU and they pulled off the shocker knocking off Virginia Tech last week. Pat White and company are still dangerous even without RichRod but wont be the offensive juggernaut they were the last few years. Don't get me wrong here, I think WVU is good but I see them as an 8-9 win team. Can ECU pull off the upset 2 weeks in a row? Haines' Winners - ECU 27-21

Georgia Tech vs. Boston College - GT has a new coach in Paul Johnson and his offense is an old school flexbone and wishbone style he has been a master of the last few years. Boston College lost first round pick Matt Ryan and I see trouble on the horizon. The Eagles are a one touchdown favorite. Haines' Winner - Georgia Tech 27 - 24

That's all for now and I hope my first week goes well. Enjoy your weekend!

Monday, September 1, 2008

How can you play a team that has a QB throw 4 int and you are domintaing the first half and should have been up 10+ at the half but instead you are up 7. Ok... But then you drive the ball all the way down to the 10 and fumble the ball away instead of going up 21-7 and then you stop them and get the ball back at the 25 and lose 12 yards in 3 plays and have to punt. Your special teams cost you 19 points because of missed fg's, blocked punt and a delay of game on a fg? Then you have to punt!! You were running all over UCLA but then after the fumble you decide to just start passing and go 3 and out. You were lucky to get to overtime and when you get there and are down 3 you play Phil Fulmer conservative football to just attempt a FG and go to the 2nd overtime. The only problem with that Fat Fulmer is that you kicker had been awful!

Way to choke away a victory and start your season off on a bad note. That is the reason that some coaches win national titles and some go to bowls on new years eve. Because of being conservative and going away from what worked all game. In the first half you played pressure defense that force 4 int but in the second half you decide to play soft and allow intermediate passes. Great job Tennessee!!!

Sunday, August 31, 2008

1.) Michigan is no where near what I thought they would be. I knew there would be struggles but I never expected 40 pass attempts and our leading rusher to get 8 carries. I went from an expectation of 8 wins to maybe 6 if we are lucky. I mean for crying out loud we got beat by a Ute? Wow! Football is really slipping in Ann Arbor.

2.) Tyson Lee can play at DI and didnt play great and didnt play bad. Wesley Carroll has some competition on his hands. Defense is good at State and will again be a top defense in the SEC. AD looked good and the only problem is they didn't hand him the ball enough. Also, once again our coaches got in the way of a victory vs. an easy non conference win.

3.) Alabama looked really good. Saban just may be getting those boys ready for a return trip to Atlanta in November. (*cough* *cough* see Seymour I dont always hate on your boys)

4.) LSU did win but I didn't see GREAT QB play. They have a tough head hunting defense as usual and will be tough to beat. Les Miles is a great coach and LSU has a good offense and will design it around their stable of backs and recievers and minimize any mistakes to be made by Hatch and Lee. FWIW I think Lee wins the job at QB soon.

5.) Auburn's wide open no huddle score all the time offense didnt do that well against UL Monroe. They have QB rotation and controversy as well.

6.) Clemson is once again overrated. No, I am not taking anything away from Alabama guys but 2 of the best RB's in the country (James Davis and CJ Spiller) had a combined 8 carries???? Is RichRod coaching in Clemson again?

7.) USC is once again for real. I know Virginia is no powerhouse but they are no cupcake either. Ohio St. fans are holding their breath over Beanie Wells' injury because without him they dont stand a chance vs the Trojans.

8.) Virginia Tech is stupid for redshirting Tyrod Taylor at QB because Sean Glennon is horrific and cannot carry that team offensively like Taylor can. Taylor proved that last year I thought. Look for the redshirt to be coming off soon. Too bad for Hokie fans that it cost them a victory already.

9.) Ole Miss looks like they could have a dangerous offense but they also look like they have a horrific defense. Snead and co. could put up some points since they have a good coach in Nutt and not the cajun gorilla Orgeron anymore.

10.) Pat White can actually throw the ball. I know it was against Villanova but did any of you expect him to throw for 200+ yards with 5 Td's and only 60+ yards rushing?

Feel free to add any of what you guys saw this weekend and before you even think about writing about it, there isn't anything you can say about Michigan or State that I havent told myself or already know. Congrats to you if your team won and if they didn't.....Well you could be me!